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An elicitation study to identify students’ salient beliefs towards school counselling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2022

Muhammad Hafiz Open the ORCID record for Muhammad Hafiz [Opens in a new window]  and
Wan Har Chong
Muhammad Hafiz*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Wan Har Chong
Affiliation:
Psychology and Child & Human Development Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
*
*Corresponding author: Email: mhafiz@hku.hk
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Abstract

Underutilisation of school counselling services was prevalent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a framework, this qualitative study seeks to elicit salient beliefs towards help-seeking from a school counsellor in secondary school contexts. Through focus-group discussions and individual interviews, 29 students from 10 secondary schools were interviewed. Constructive content analysis was utilised to identify specific salient behavioural beliefs, salient normative norms and salient control belief. The salient beliefs identified include perceiving counselling as a form of professional help, nonjudgment, stigmatisation, and past counselling experience. This study identified and highlighted a systematic approach to understanding specific socio-cognitive factors that support and hinder school counselling utilisation in an Asian school context. Implications arising from the study were discussed in the light of the findings.

Keywords

Help-seeking intentionschool counsellingtheory of planned behavioursalient beliefsqualitative study
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , December 2023 , pp. 175 - 189
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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